Rating: 
Summary: Suprisingly intelligent and watertight, but still very funny
Review: Before buying this book I kept hearing and reading about reviewers saying that this book is fun to read for both, liberals as well as conservatives. Upon finishing this book I can tell you, it is extremely difficult to imagine a sincere conservative even stomaching the first 100 pages of this book.The reason is simple. Al Franken, a comedian and a liberal advocate, is assigned a team of 14 Harvard students with a mission to write a book that will counter the recent surge of attacks by the conservative right against the US liberals. Why a comedian, you might wonder? Well, because the charges they will come up with are extremely aggressive, and only when presented with a satirical sense of humor can they be toned down a bit for the average non-biased reader. The main charge is right there on the cover. US conservative icons are liars. Al acknowledges the direness of this charge when he says that "lying is a serious matter. And calling the President of the United States a liar is not something I say with any relish or self-satisfaction. I wish with all my heart that our president wasn't a liar, or if he were, that he was more like President Clinton. Bush lies about important things. Like the economy, his tax cuts, education, our reasons for going to war, and drunk driving." He also accuses others of lying such as Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, and Rush Limbaugh among other conservative celebrities. And as serious as these accusations are, so are the facts and the arguments Al extends in support of these claims. With the help of a meticulous research team, Al reveals shocking and horrifying lies that some conservatives have been shamelessly voicing to the public. Some of these lies could be blamed on ignorance and insufficient research, but others cannot be attributed to anything but utter evilness and the desire to hide the truth. Al begins the book by bashing Ann Coulter, the author of "Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism." Not only does Mr. Franken reveal so many shortcomings in the methodology used by Ann to research information about the liberal media (such as improper usage of the LexisNexis search engine,) but he also reveals inexcusable out-of-context quotations that were presented with obvious ill intentions. That, in addition to other outright lies mentioned in her book as well. Then he takes on Bernard Goldberg, the author of "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distorts the News." And again, he reveals a malicious misquoting approach similar to that of his fellow conservative Ms. Coulter. And don't think that these takes on misquotations are mere cheap-shots taken at side issues of these books. These misquotations are central to the basic premise of the arguments by the conservative authors, and Al presents you the original full text, the context it was said in, and then the mutilated presentation by the author. By finishing those chapters you'd laugh (or cry) every time you see one of those books on display. Subsequently, Al wages a deadly assault on FOX along with its star Bill O'Reilly. I'm surprised that anyone can go through that chapter and not end up with a strong feeling of despise for the O'Reilly man. Al also takes on Hannity and Colmes as well. After that, Al goes on a campaign to repeal all the lies that the conservative propaganda machine has been spreading for several years. Al covers various subjects such as the 2000 elections, the war on terrorism, the tone of politics in Washington, and the Paul Wellstone memorial. Al also doesn't forget to discuss some pillars of the conservative school of thought, such as abstinence for birth-control, conservatives stand on racism and feminism, supply-side economics, and the sissiness of the Democrats. Finally, he briefly discusses his own uncharacteristic support of the Iraqi preemption war. The watertight logic and the hard evidence that Al extends in this book are astonishingly unexpected from a comedian interested in politics such as Al Franken. I was expecting to get some laughs at the conservative right only to be amazed by the strong and sometimes infallible arguments that Al throws in the face of conservatives. But make no mistake about it, the book is more hysterical than all of Al's previous work. If you have seen Al on TV before you'll know that his comedy is not based on observations and funny comments only. Al is the kind of guy who would engage himself in confrontations (sometimes under dangerous circumstances) to present you a real-life funny story. Many of these stories are presented in this book along with a mini-novel about what would Bush's team have done have they didn't dodge the service in Vietnam, a comic titled "The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus" (which was extremely funny,) and a no-child-left-behind standard test. Also, in credit for Al's work, none of those accused by him as liars was able to defend himself against this serious accusation. In addition to the public confrontations where Al left his opponents stumped and speechless, FOX and O'Reilly couldn't find any vulnerabilities in the book to sue against except for its title. And no, not the "Liars" part, but the "Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" part claiming that it's a patented slogan of the O'Reilly Factor show. This alone is telling of to what extent the conservatives are defenseless against being called liars. They lost even that case, by the way. In conclusion, if you're sick of conservatives waving Coulter's books or Goldberg's and would want to stump them cold silent, then read this book. If you want to learn more about how easy it is to lie in public without being caught, then read this book. If you're looking for great humor, then read this book. If you're a conservative with high blood-pressure, then I recommend that you do not read this book. You will not find it funny.
Rating: 
Summary: Taken For What It Is
Review: Before I go another step forward, I will let you all know that I am only about 100 pages into this book. That being said, I can already sense where the rest of this book is going. Now, that's not an entirely BAD thing, but it certainly isn't good either. Thus far, "Liars" has proven to be an entertaining read, most noticeably due it being written by AN ENTERTAINER. There is not doubt in my mind that Al Franken is indeed intelligent, well-versed and thoughtful. He raises some good points and questions when it comes to the credibility of pundit Bill O'Reilly and author Ann Coultier. I definitely find them both to be holier-than-thou and closed-minded. My problem comes into play because; much like Coulter & O'Reilly, he is digging for dirt on them to disprove them as much as they do to others. One minute, he criticizes Ann Coulter for namecalling on Katie Couric and others and ends that chapter of his own book by calling her a "b*tch". Sounds a tad hypocritcal to me. Some will complain that Al Franken is a comic trying to compete with "informed talking heads". While this may be true on paper, he proves himself to be no less credible a source than O'Reilly and others. He digs for facts and figures and presents them in an informative manner, all the while being entertaining and even humorous. Unfortunately, it's authors of both ilks; liberal and conservative, that espouse their own "facts" riddled with opinions and utilize underhanded tactics to discredit the other, all while the rest of us either blindly choose sides or sit here like we're watching a tennis match for idiots. Personally, I don't trust either side or the governing bodies that they claim to represent. Overall, I give "Liars" 5 stars for being refreshing to read, presenting another side to the Fox News hounds while explaining himself well and for being an intelligent, critical thinker for the left that is riddled with just as many talking heads and sloganeers as the right. I also give "Liars" 1 star for the namecalling, finger-pointing and cheap shot tactics he accuses the right of using and vice versa. It's a worthy read but I'm with "a reader" when I say I'd rather hear the actual story and decide for myself. Unfortunately for us, the "actual story" is one we will likely never know.
Rating: 
Summary: Where are the Customer Review
Review: Before reading a book I'll read Amazon's reviews to see what the customer is saying. Boy was I shocked to see as of August 29 no one has reviewed this book. Al has been all over the TV thanking FOX News for making it #1. Is anyone actually reading the book? Come on readers defend your man share with us the world according to Al.
Rating: 
Summary: Can Anybody Disagree with Facts?
Review: Before reading each chapter, I truly tried to put all my liberal biases aside and look at Franken's book objectively. What I came to find, however, was that it doesn't matter whether you are a Democrat or a Republican - the lying and manipulating amongst the likes of Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, and yes, George W. himself is indisputable. Franken's many years as a Saturday Night Live writer are evident on every page, and it truly makes this book a fast read, but certainly does not subtract from its depth. What I love about this book is that it shows the wide, unclear, pumped up, and ambiguous statements that many prominent Republicans use to gain support and appear as though they have made a point. This aggressive and defensive technique employed by the likes of Bill O'Reilly need to be countered in some way, and Franken definitely does it. These wide, sweeping conservative quotes (ex. "Liberals hate all religion except Islam" - Ann Coulter) need to be shown for the nonsense that they are. What I found most shocking is some of the complete fabrications of truth that were exposed from publications as big as The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. It questions the journalistic integrity of many of these key publications. The greatest example of this is the Wall Street Journal crediting Bush for the decline in violent crime from 1993-2001 and criticizing Clinton's gun control advocacy - completely forgetting who was president during those years. Ultimately, we should all want good, calm, political debate, and in almost all of Franken's phone calls and discussions with many conservatives, their defensiveness makes it impossible. This book is not completely lacking of bias or bad arguments. Some chapters are in bad taste, but still retain the comedy (see Franken's hysterical trip to Bob Jones University). The bottom line seems to be that we need to actually READ and see through political lies, and once we've done that, THEN to make a political decision. Liberals and conservatives both love this country, and debate does not change that.
Rating:
Summary: Factually challenged?
Review: Before you fork over your cash for Al, you might first want to visit www.frankenlies.com
Al and his 14 Harvard buddies have been challenged on his facts.
Rating:
Summary: Factually challenged?
Review: Before you fork over your cash to Al, you might want to check www.frankenlies.com
Al and his 14 Harvard buddies have been challenged on their facts.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious, Revealing and last, but not least Provoking
Review: Being a long-time Franken fan but never a Franken book purchaser, I didn't know what to expect - except to LMAO - which I did practically every one of the 377 pages. Thank God - as I don't believe I could have stomached what Franken reveals without the humor. While it has been my opinion that the likes of O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Coulter, etc., are dedicated to inflaming the masses by misleading them and making money off of it - it didn't occur to me in all my naivete as an arm-chair liberal that people on my television would distort and present the 'facts' so much so to make it a lie to fit their agenda. Yes, I am a naive idiot - thinking of witty comebacks hours after the moment and with no mind for statistics I rarely win an argument.
The book represents a fair and balanced look at recent events and policy and gives the inside story - one that most of us didn't hear on the news. Don't believe me - do your own net search.
I read the paper and watched the news differently today Al. Thanks, Mary
Rating:
Summary: AL FRANKEN DOES IT AGAIN!!
Review: Best book to date! While enjoying Al's wit & charm he opens his readers eyes to the insidious dealings of the many right wingers. I hope he is able to get his talk radio show up & running soon so we can enjoy his commentary real-time!
Rating:
Summary: Can you spell "channel stuffing"?
Review: Bestseller my ***. Within a few months they'll be thousands of copies of this book festering in warehouses with a big black remainder mark on the edge. Al franken looks like a toad--he was the least funny member of a very unfunny show. Can't he crawl back into the sewer he was spawned from. Fox and O'Reily should sue the hell out of this freak for libel, but he doesn't have any money so it'd be a waste of time. He couldn't afford a month of cable to watch reruns of SNL on comedy central with the royalties he'll earn off this trash. Watch out for the remainder marks, AL!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: look at the idiots who recommend this garbage
Review: Big Al Franken..lousey writer..4rth rate comedian, and homosexual icon. the further rantings of a prissy, angry, homosexual...
look at some of the books recommended by people who enjoy Franken's drivel...
books on militant homosexuality and anti- God bombast.
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